spring chicken

We had a really nice weekend in Eugene, Oregon. After two months of truly bizarre weather (February and early March sunny and in the 60's, and then the past month being frigid, dark and stormy), I'm really starting to hope that the Willamette Valley is done with winter's last throes, and it's going to be warm and sunny from now until September. This afternoon, biking along the Fern Ridge trail to the West Eugene wetlands, I realize how different I feel when the sun is out and the weather is warm. It isn't just feeling happier from getting more vitamin D and full spectrum light, but I feel more aware, more alive, more energetic, and no pain. I truly feel like a new person. I think we all do in some way or another, I've never seen that particular bike trail so full of people who just wanted to be outside. Let's hope we're really in spring right now!

In the spirit of spring = all around betterness, I'd like to follow up my last (depressing, insane) post with something more fun. I'm going to post a recipe that I made up! DISCLAIMER: I am not a trained professional, nor am I a food blogger. I have only been cooking for the past 5 years (and poorly for most of those years), and pretty much everything I know comes from cookbooks and random tips I learned from my husband, a classically trained chef (seriously, marrying a chef = best idea ever). Only recently, around the time I started taking Lexapro, strangely enough, I started coming up with my own recipes, and Daniel has been liking them. So today I made dinner with him in mind. Life is kind of sucking for us right now, and Daniel's been super great to me lately, so this weekend I wanted to make something I know he would love: German food. Although it wasn't really German food; since I wanted something light and healthy, and something more appropriate for warm, sunny weather, I made chicken salad with a German flavor profile. The ingredients (except for the mayo) were all local and organic; I picked out the vegetables and herbs based on what was available at the farmer's market. So it's sort of a seasonal-local-German flavored-summer/spring kind of dish.

The recipe is below, but a few notes about nutrition and fibromyalgia (since this is a blog about living with FMS, after all). Different FMS sufferers have different dietary restrictions, so I don't want to make any blanket claims that this recipe is OK or not OK for someone with FMS to eat. However, it does avoid some major food allergens, and has a good deal of nutritional value. If you have FMS, you should always follow your instincts about what you think is healthy food (not that I do...) This is an intuitively healthy dish. There is mayonnaise, but it's low fat and made with olive oil (not hydrogenated). The chicken is cooked in some fat, but it wasn't fried, and it's a very lean, but very satisfying cut of meat. The radishes are more nutrient packed than you'd think, packed with magnesium (which is great for muscle pain and stiffness, as well as anxiety) and vitamin C. The leeks don't have much good or bad for you, but they add a suble, complex pungency to the salad. Same with the chives. It's also always good to buy local and organic, free range, etc. whenever possible. There's less risk of exposure to pesticides and/or GMOs, and it's good karma. When you do good, you feel good, and feeling good makes you less likely to be in pain... trust me!

Huhn der Frühlung
(German for "spring chicken")

measurements are very approximate
2-3 Tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lb boneless chicken breast
dried dill
ground nutmeg
paprika (pref. sweet)
salt and pepper
cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar, or white wine)
3/4 C leeks, diced (prep during step 2)
1/4 C minced chives (prep during step 2)
5 plump radishes, diced (prep during step 2)
1 C mayo (I used Kraft low-fat olive oil, but you could get fancy organic mayo or make your own)
1–2 Tsp German spicy brown mustard
cayenne pepper

1. Place oil in a large skillet (with a lid) and turn the stovetop to medium. Your husband will walk through the kitchen on his way out the door, and throw a spoonful of bacon grease into the pan (or not). When the oil is hot, put your breast meat pieces into the pan. After one side is browned (3 min.), flip it over and sprinkle the browned side with nutmeg, paprika, dill, salt, and pepper. After the other side is browned, flip it over again, and again with the nutmeg, paprika, dill, salt, and pepper. Put a splash (1-2 Tsp?) of vinegar into the pan, let it sizzle for a little bit, then turn the heat to medium-low. Let the chicken cook while you prep the other ingredients. At least 2 or 3 times more, throw in more dashes of the herbs/spices/vinegar to your tasting (but use nutmeg sparingly, it can be overpowering)

2. Dice the radishes and leeks and mince the chives. Place the veggies in a large bowl, and place the mayo, mustard, and a few dashes of vinegar (increase or decrease measurements to your liking), sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper, and add a dash of cayenne. Mix all the ingredients up, and wait for the chicken to cook. Go check facebook, or pet a cat for a while.

3. After 20 minutes or so, check the internal temp. of the chicken with a meat thermometer. If it's 165 degrees or higher, you're good to go. Otherwise, wait a few minutes and check again, rinse, repeat until you've hit 165. Remove the chicken from the pan, cut into bite-sized pieces, and mix well with the rest of the ingredients. Cover the bowl in saran wrap and let sit for a few hours so the flavors marry.

4. Your husband will throw in fresh, sliced strawberries right before serving. Eat atop a bed of greens lightly dressed in vinegar and black pepper (how we had them), or on bread, or anyway you like to eat chicken salad.

If I were to do it over again, I'd add horseradish, but alas, we didn't have any. Next time!